Blogs from Lai Chau , Northwest, Vietnam, Asia
April 9th 2009
Our flight was delayed and we arrived in Hanoi just in time to get to the travel agency, get a quick bite, and then off to the Victoria Orient Express. Our memory of Hanoi has changed. Although we arrived in the dark, the city was vibrant and frenetic. When we were last here, there were two routes to the city from the airport. One a toll road and the other was the general road. At that time, the toll road was vacant. Now it is the central passage and is no longer a toll road. Unlike Saigon, Hanoi has narrow roads that are also filled with throngs of weaving motorbikes. After a brief ride to the train station from APT travel, we boarded our sleeper car. Our mahogany birth was small and cozy. Alex and Ariel ... read more
March 21st 2009
March 21 So I arrived to Lao Chai this morning and after the mayhem of getting a mini bus to Sapa(many drives different prices depending on your barging.) I was crowded by people leading me to their hotel. I checked a few out before I found a sweet cheap place and awesome view of the valley. When I was being lead to the hotel a local village woman began to follow us and talk to me a little. These local women are all over the place selling things. Anyway, I went in the hotel for at least 1/2 hr and when I came out she was there waiting. I think she wanted to lead/follow me to her village. But I didn't want to trek today, I just wanted to check out the town n the radio ... read more
December 20th 2008
At last Locky gets up off his posterior to bring you this account of our ride from Sapa to Tam Duong Well I have to say we've been a bit lazy with blog entries, or at least THIS blog entry in particular. And it's a shame, because this was actually one of the best and certainly the most unique day of our trip to date (and I should note that I'm writing this on the 5th of January 2009, the day before we head to the Angkor temples). But anyway, here is the tale of our bike ride from Sapa to Tam Duong... Hil and I rise in reasonably good time, eager to start our cycling. The Cat Cat hotel has been our home for the past few days and we say our cheerful goodbyes. ... read more
June 4th 2008
After arriving back in Hanoi after a few spectacular days in Halong Bay, we embarked on the good o'l night train and headed up north to Sapa. Before heading up to Sapa, we spent the day walking around Hanoi. Beautiful city, tons of people, not a cloud in sight but EXTREMLEY HOT!!! I think it was the hottest day so far on our trip. We heard rumours it was in the low 40 Degrees! Every hour we were looking for some sort of A.C. to cool us off. After a good day in the heat, we got on the night train. After a fairly comfortable sleep, we woke up in the mountains of Sapa at about 530am. Everything was very organized. We had a mini van pick up our group right from the train station and ... read more
December 18th 2007
While taking the train back to Hanoi I decided to go back to Sapa and visit some of the minority villages in the "area". After spending a few days in Hanoi getting caught up with my photos ... i took the night train back to Sapa. I ran into Sa who I met earlier and knowing that she acted as a guide I asked her if she would be my guide on a 3 day trip to some of the villages surrounding Sapa. Sa knew someone who rented motobikes and for $8 a day I rented a Russian 2 stroke bike with two helmets. This bike would get me to places that a Honda "scooter" couldn't. get to. Though after renting the bike I discovered that the breaks didn't work to well. We took off anyway ... read more
February 19th 2007
Weel, this am I didn't feel so chipper. After last nights ATM excitement I sat down in the hotel restraunt for my meal. I was waved over by the guy who works on the recption. He asked me to join the hotel staff for a meal they were having. A freind of theirs was heading back home for Tet and this was her leaving meal. Again it ws shown how freindly, hospitable and kind are the majority of people I have met in Vietnam. The meal ws accompanined by many rice wine toasts, leaving me a little hungover in the moring. The Vietnamese certainly picked up a lot from the Russians, and toasting is just one of them. As I left in the moring, I was given a bottle of rice wine to take away with ... read more
Excuse me, please can I buy your baby?
Published: November 15th 2006Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lai Chau
November 15th 2006
Hanoi - Sapa - Lai Chau - Son La - Mai Chau - Hanoi We recently wanted to head off & explore the 'remote' northwest area of Vietnam. The region, which borders China & Laos, is known for its multitude of colourful minority groups & endless stunning scenery. Kylie, Amy, Amber & I hired a 4wd, a local driver & set off with a carefully planned route mapped out before us. There's a standard loop that people take, but just to be different we chose to do it backwards. The trip didn't turn out quite as any of us really expected. We'd planned for time spent meeting hilltribe villagers. We expected time to explore the villages we were visiting and to have stories to tell & photos to show from our unique & remote 4WD adventure. ... read more
